


Double Win

by CrypticNotCoy (Reveles)



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Sports, M/M, Meet-Cute, taekwondo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:48:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26278195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reveles/pseuds/CrypticNotCoy
Summary: Magnus and Alec meet at a Taekwondo tournament
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Comments: 5
Kudos: 52





	Double Win

**Author's Note:**

> I've wanted to write a sport fic or a meet-cute for a while so I figured, why not do both?
> 
> IMPORTANT STUFF: This is some background knowledge that will help this make more sense to anyone who doesn't do Taekwondo
> 
> \- Kyorugi or sparring is where two competitors fight to earn points through a combination of kicks and sometimes punches. Whoever has the most points at the end wins and technique is much more important than brute force, you don't aim to hurt your opponent, only to get more points than them  
> \- There are three two-minute rounds in a sparring match  
> \- Each kick is worth a different number of points, head kick are worth more than body kicks  
> \- If you push someone out of bounds with a kick or they move there themselves, they lose one point as a penalty and the match is briefly stopped  
> \- Chest protectors are reversible, one side is red, the other is blue. In competition each competitor is assigned a colour  
> \- The referees are giving verbal commands as well as hand signals  
> \- Poomsae or forms are a set of movements that you perform and you are judged based on your accuracy and presentation  
> \- There are two types of scoring for forms, point and flag. Flag scoring is when two competitors do their from at the same time and the judges will hold up either a red or a blue flag to indicate who won. Point scoring is more technical, only one competitor performs at a time. There is an app that judges use that allows them to make deductions from a starting point of ten, major accuracy mistakes are -0.3 and minor are -0.1, after accuracy deductions are made the judges also rate the athlete's presentation with categories in speed & power, rhythm & tempo and expression of energy  
> \- There are different levels of black belt called dans, in this Magnus and Alec are both first dans  
> \- Each belt level does two different forms in competition, first dan black belts do Taegeuk Pal Jung (form eight, the last colour belt form) and Koryo (the first black belt form)  
> \- Competition uniform is different than regular uniform for black belts, the competition uniform has blue pants and the top wraps around you and ties up on one side (yes, they do come undone sometimes. It is not fun)  
> \- Black belts have their names embroidered on their belts in gold (which is how Magnus learns Alec's name)  
> \- Yes, they really are called feet gloves. That is exactly what they are, all of the sparring protective gear is pretty self explanatory  
> \- All Taekwondo indoor competitions are done on soft mats that are usually red and blue  
> \- The two age categories I mention here are junior and cadet, junior is ages 15-17 and cadet is 12-14 (Alec, Magnus, Jace and Izzy are all juniors)

Alec finished his stretches and made his way over to his bag, grabbing his feet gloves, he pulled them on before strapping on his shin guards. Next, he put on his arm guards and gloves, with a bit of help from Jace, he tied his chest protector with the blue side facing out and then pulled on his helmet. He was ready.

He could feel the nerves and focused on turning them into the energy he would need to get through this round. Alec was already tired, having bet three other people to get into the final, but his opponent was in the same boat. He could only hope the months of strength, flexibility and technique training would give him an edge.

The referee beckoned them over to the mat and Alec could feel his focus narrow, this was it. When the referee gave the command, he made his way to the centre of the mat. The two bowed when instructed and then moved into their fighting stance. Alec was already planing his first move, the other boy had his guard too low, leaving him vulnerable to a roundhouse kick to the head. 

The referee lifted her arm and the two spring into motion, using his front leg, Alec delivered the his first kick to the boy's head and then another to his body. 4 points. Moving to the side to avoid a spin kick to the body, Alec retaliated with a back kick gaining him another 3 points. The other boy managed to strike him with a side push kick, sending him stumbling back. But Alec was at an advantage with his long legs and slid forward, using his momentum to raise his leg for another head kick.

The other boy moved back and Alec noted that he was close to the edge of the mat, one good push kick should get him out of the red area and onto the blue, out of bound. With his left leg, Alec delivered a powerful side push and the other boy went stumbling out of bound. The referee stopped the match, and both boys went back to the centre. There was only ten seconds left in this round and Alec was determined to get some more points. As soon as the referee raised her arm, he moved in and scored a side kick to the body as well as hook kick and a roundhouse to the head. The other boy had gotten two roundhouses to his body as well before the referee stopped them for time.

Looking at the scores, Alec could see they were at 20 - Blue and 3 - Red, Alec had a good lead but scores are fast changing in sparring, and there were still two more rounds left.

~

On the other side of the stadium, Magnus was getting ready for his own event. He was stretching to ease his nerves as he waited to be called onto the mat for his turn. They were doing points scoring today, so there was some added pressure, especially on his accuracy.

Magnus heard his name be called and he made his way over to the mat, he could see the four judges positioned at each corner with a tablet or iPad in their hands, as well as the referee standing at the front. The referee motioned for him to go on the mat and he bowed before taking four measured steps to the centre. The referee motioned for him to bow again before moving into a ready stance. 

"Taegeuk Pal Jung," The referee instructed. Magnus began to move, his body flowing through the familiar form, yelling on the jump kicks and making sure his movements were precise. Soon, the form was over and he waited in his deep stance with his arm out in a punch, for the referee to call him back to ready stance. Once he did, the judges finished their scoring, marking him on his presentation, the referee instructed him to leave the matt. Magnus bowed and turned before walking off the mat and bowing again as he left. Moving his mind to his next, and final, form for the day, Koryo. Magnus did some more stretches to calm himself as he waited to be called back to the mat for his final performance.

~

The next two rounds went well for Alec and the final scores ended up as 53 - Blue and 40 - Red, making Alec win by 13 points. After getting out of his sweaty gear and straightening his uniform, making sure his belt was tied tightly, Alec made his way back over to the mat and lined up for presentation.

Fourth place went to a boy with white blond hair and black eyes named Sebastian, Jace came third, and in second place was a boy with wild brown hair and brown eyes called Simon. Then Alec was announced as first and he stepped forward to accept his medal with the others. After the presentation, all the boys bowed and walked off the mat so the cadets could compete.

"Well done Alec!" Jace said

"Thanks! You too! That Sebastian guy looked pretty hard to beat," Alec replied

"He was, but I got there in the end," Jace laughed as they both walked over to their bags so they could pack up their gear properly. As they were doing this, Izzy came over to the two, holding her own gear bag.

"Well done you two!" she exclaimed

"Thanks Iz!" Jace smiled

"Well done to you too!" Alec pointed at where she had a gold medal hanging around her neck

"Thanks! Do you guys want to go over and watch the Poomsae now? Mum and Dad had to take Max back to the hotel because he was tired," she asked

"Sure," Alec shrugged and zipped up his bag before slinging the strap over his sholder

"I'm in. What category are we going to watch?" Jace questioned

"Well, the closest is Black Belt junior male. So we could go with that?" Izzy suggested

"Cool," The trio made their way over to the other side of the stadium and sat down to watch just as a tall tan boy bowed and stepped onto the matt. Alec would be lying if he said he didn't think they boy was attractive.

The boy bowed again before moving into the ready position for Koryo, with his hands raised and framing his face. When the referee gave the command he began the form. Alec was mesmerised at the boy's sharp and flowing movements as well as the height of his kicks. There was a look on his face that made it obvious that he was in his element.

It was over much too soon and the boy walked off the mat, a few other boys did the same form afterwards, but Alec wasn't paying attention to them. His focus was on where the tall boy was sitting, waiting for his results. Taking his time, Alec noted all the details about the boy's appearance, though they were at least ten meters away, he could see that the boy had the most mesmerising gold-green eyes. His uniform was immaculate, his loose fitting blue pants were crease-free and his white top was pristine with it's black collar perfectly starched. Alec thought he had never seen someone make the standard competition uniform look so good.

Glancing down at himself, Alec cold see the creases left by his sparring gear. He could feel the still damp area of his shirt where his belt encircled his waist and refused to let the sweat dry fast. Alec was sure his hair was frizzy from sweat and his helmet, yet the other boy's was styled, not too dramatically, but enough to make Alec feel like he was a mess. All in all, Alec felt like he was in no state to be compared to the hot boy that he was not-so-subtly checking out.

After the last few competitors has finished, the boys were called back to the mat for presentations. Unlike in sparring, none of them had any idea of their scores or their place until the last minute. The boy's coaches would be sent their scores later, but now they got to find out who had placed.

"In fourth we have Raphael Santiago," The referee announced, "In third, Ragnor Fell," Alec could see that the beautiful boy was slightly worried that he wouldn't place, but Alec could tell that he truly deserved to. "Second is James Carstairs. And in first place we have Magnus Bane,"

As the boys went forward to revive their medals Alec joined in with the clapping, if he was only clapping for one person in particular, well, nobody needed to know that. Magnus, Alec thought, was a really fitting name for the beautiful boy.

"Where to now?" Jace asked, "Are we going to watch another event or would our parents be back yet?"

"Not sure, they said they'd text me when they got back," Izzy replied

"Excuse me," came a soft voice "But I do believe your bag is sitting on my shoes,"

Alec looked up and saw the boy he had been watching from before, "Oh, uh, sorry!" he quickly moved his bag from where he had dumped it.

"Thanks, I take it you were competing in Kyorugi?" Magnus said, pointing to Alec's bag

"Yeah, I, um, saw you compete before. You were really good," Alec replied, not quite believing that someone as pretty as Magnus had decided to start a conversation with _him_.

"Thank you! I love Poomsae, there's always something to improve on," Magnus smiled, "Judging by your medal I'd say you're pretty good at sparring too,"

"Oh, yeah," Alec glanced down at where his gold medal was sitting just below the deep overlapping V of his shirt, "There's always new techniques to learn and different ways of scoring, I find it fun,"

"Cool! I like sparring too, if the events weren't on at the same time I probably would have competed in it today. But, as it stands, I'm quite glad that I didn't have to verse you, I'm not sure I could bring myself to hit someone so pretty," Magnus said with a wink that immediately made Alec go red

"I had to verse my brother, sometimes when we train we get told off for apologising when we kick each other," Alec managed to reply, turning to point at Jace, only to find that he and Izzy had disappeared over to talk to someone else.

"I'm like that with my friends too," Magnus laughed, Alec decided that Magnus's laugh was his new favourite sound, "How long have you been doing Taekwondo?" he asked

"About seven years, I got my black belt a few years ago and I'm actually doing my testing for my second dan at the moment," Alec told him, he was surprised at how easy it was to talk to Magnus. At first he had stuttered, but now that the conversation was going, it didn't feel awkward at all.

"That's awesome! I've only been doing it for six years and I got my black belt last year," Magnus said before continuing, "So, what else do you do, other than Taekwondo?"

"I love archery, but other than that I mainly just do school work. I'm kinda boring," Alec shrugged, wishing he had something more interesting to say.

"You're not boring! Archery is super cool, all I do is Taekwondo and some designing in my spare time,"

"What do you design?" Alec asked curiously

"Clothes, I want to peruse a career in fashion after university," Magnus replied, Alec thought he saw a glint of insecurity in Magnus's eyes as he answered, as if he was unsure at what Alec's reaction would be at finding out that he wanted to be a designer

"That's so cool! My sister, Izzy, wants to be a designer too," Alec said

"Really?" Magnus looked genuinely interested and looked like he was about to say something else but then Izzy herself called out to Alec that their parents were going to meet them outside in a minute.

"I'm sorry, I think I have to go," Alec apologised, "It's been awesome talking to you Magnus," Alec began to turn away but was stopped by Magnus putting a hand on his arm.

"Do you have your phone here Alexander?" he asked suddenly. Normally Alec would correct people when they called him Alexander, but he found that he liked the way his name sounded coming from Magnus.

"Uh, yeah, why?" Alec unzipped one of the small pockets in his bag and pulled his phone out.

"I just really liked talking to you and I wondered if I could give you my number and we could catch up sometime?" Magnus sounded almost nervous and Alec just smiled in disbelief that Magnus wanted his number.

"Sure," Alec unlocked his phone and held it out for Magnus to put his number into.

After sending himself a quick text so he would have Alec's number too, Magnus gathered his courage and asked Alec one more thing, "I'm not sure is this is too forward, seeing as we only just met, but I was wondering if you would like to go out with me sometime?"

Alec was stunned, "Like, on a date?"

"If you want it to be," Magnus smiled shyly

"I want it to be," Alec blurted out, a smile overtaking his features

"Good, does Saturday night work for you?" Magnus asked, a fantastic smile on his face

"Yeah, is six o'clock good?"

"Works for me," Magnus replied "I'll text you the details,"

"Sounds good. I'll see you then Magnus," Alec gave a small wave as he walked over to where Izzy was waiting

"See you then Alexander,"

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this because I'm missing doing Taekwondo, we are getting to do classes over zoom but it's just not the same. I'm also salty because we were meant to go a competition in the Gold Coast but it got cancelled because of Corona which sucks because it was our first national competition. I normally compete in forms at state competitions but I'm working towards doing sparring at that level too. What sports are you guys passionate about?
> 
> A always, if you have any feedback please tell me, this was my first time writing a meet-cute and I want to know how I went :) I think this is officially the longest fic I have written, but I have a feeling the explanation at the start contributed to that... Comments and kudos are adored (though not necessary). Until next time!  
> ~CrypticNotCoy


End file.
